The Swans gear up for the season-opener with Manchester United by taking on another side with strong pedigree at the Liberty Stadium...

Garry Monk's men take on La Liga opponents at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Just a week before the big kick-off at Old Trafford, the Swans host something of a glamour friendly by welcoming Villarreal to South Wales.

But what do we know about the side from the eastern coast of Spain?

Here's a guide to Villarreal CF for the uninitiated...

Nickname:

El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine). They take their moniker from a combination of their yellow home shirt and relatively low profile in Spain.

Ground

El Madrigal, which has a capacity of 25,000.

Action Images / Michael Regan

General view of the El Madrigal Stadium

History

It is only in the last 15 years that Villarreal have played in the top division in Spain and come to the wider attention of football fans in Europe.

For much of their history, the club played in Spanish regional football before a rise which culminated in promotion to the Primera Division - or La Liga - in 1998. They were immediately relegated but returned to the top flight a year later.

They then suffered relegation again in 2011/12 before bouncing straight back once again the season after.

European football

In recent years, Villarreal have regularly played in European competition.

In their major European debut in 2003/4, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia CF. They also lost in the quarter-finals in 2004/5.

In 2005/6, they defeated David Moyes' Everton in the Champions League play-off to qualify for the group stages. They made it all the way to the semi-final of Europe's top competition that year, eventually losing 1-0 to Arsenal over two legs after a missed Juan Roman Riquelme penalty in El Madrigal.

Arsenal again knocked them out, this time in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2008/9. They lost to Wolfsburg in the Europa League round of 32 in 2009/10 and fell at the semi-final stage to Radamel Falcao's Porto in 2011 after beating Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and FC Twente in the knockout stages.

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